Oddly enough, I actually grew up watching lots and lots of people do stupid things with bulls. In the Central Valley, Portuguese people have bullfights over the summer. I'm not sure if a lot of people know this, because one would probably assume it's illegal or something. But it's not. They don't kill the bull, so it's alright. I guess. All morals involving animal rights set aside, everyone's favorite part is when the group that's nicknamed the “suicide squad” comes out to do their stuff. Basically what happens is eight guys all line up in front of the bull and let it run into them. Their job is to “catch” the bull and make it stop running. Sometimes it doesn't go so well.
There's also another kind of bullfighting that started in the Azores islands (which is where most of the valley's Portuguese immigrants are from). This one's not actually “fighting”. What happens is that five or six guys hold on to a rope, and on the other end of that very same rope there is, you guessed it, a bull. Then anybody who wants to jumps in front of it and tries to get as close as they can. The rope is incredibly long, so in reality the guys on the other end can't actually help much. The odd thing is, the guys running in front of the bull seem to think that having an umbrella will provide some protection.
Of all the things you can take with you, you pick an umbrella? Really? Needless to say, this form results in lots of people getting gored and stomped on. People have actually made videos compiled entirely of people getting trampled and thrown around. They're sort of like sports bloopers tapes, except instead of seeing someone fumble you see blood and serious injury. It's even set to the same kind of goofy music.
So, that's this week's lesson on Portuguese culture. You might be wondering how we haven't died out by now.
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